US taking side of ‘repressive’ Saudi government: Analyst

A former US diplomat in Saudi Arabia says current and previous US administrations from both political parties have taken the side of the “repressive” Saudi government over the families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“All the administrations in the past, since 2001, Republican and Democrat whatever, always took the Saudi side,” said Michael Springmann, the head of the US visa bureau in Jeddah from 1987 until 1989.

“This is going to go on for a bit longer until someone gets up and says enough is enough and the Saudis do not control the American domestic and foreign policy,” Springmann added.

Even former President Barack Obama, who was supposedly a liberal, vetoed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), Springmann told Press TV on Tuesday.

Congress passed the law in 2016 after overriding a veto from Obama. JASTA allows the continuation of a longstanding civil lawsuit brought by families of victims of the September 11 attacks against Saudi Arabia for its government's alleged role in the attacks.

In an interview aired Monday, an advocate for 9/11 families told The Hill newspaper that past US administrations had sided more with the Saudi government than with the families of 9/11 victims.

Terry Strada, the national chairwoman of 9/11 Families and Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism, lost her husband in the attacks.

She believes ignorance of the kingdom's alleged role in assisting the attack's perpetrators comes as Saudi Arabia continues to fund terrorist organizations.

Strada's organization represents many 9/11 survivors and affected family members who filed a lawsuit against the kingdom in 2017.

US officials assert that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists but many experts have raised questions about the official account.

Many experts believe that rogue elements within the US government, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, orchestrated the 9/11 attacks in order to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.